Improved apparatus for the propulsion of vessels



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN Barcos, 'OE LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE PROPULSION OF VESSELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent bld-40,393, `dated October 27, 1863; antedated October 11, `1863.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it knownlthat I, JOHN Barcos, of Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Device for Propellin g Boats and Vessels 5 and I do hereby declarel the following to be a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in Which- Figure l represents a plan of the lower part of the bow or stern of a boat with my invention applied; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal section of the same at m Fig. 3, a horizontal section of the same at yy Fig. 4, an elevation of a detached part, to be hereinafter more particularly described. y

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

The subject of my said invention is a device by which mingled smoke and steam may be driven in a forced current beneath or upon the water on which 'a boat or vessel floats, in order to impart motion to the said boat or vessel, as will be hereinafter explained.

The invention further consists in a peculiar device by which steam or other iiuid may be ejected in any required direct-ion, so as to impart either a forward, backward, lateral, or circular motion to the boator vessel without the use of a rudder.

In order that others skilled inthe art to which my invention appertains may be enabled to fully understandA and use the same, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A may represent either the bow or stern portion of a boat or vessel of any suitable form. B B are a pair of boilers. C C are the furnaces. D is a direct-draft flue, guarded by a damper, E. F F are a pair of smoketlues, which in the present illustration rise to a short distance from the furnaces C C, continue in horizontal courses, and then descend and communicate at their lower ends with tubes GAG, which are revolvable on vertical axes and terminate at their lower ends in horizontal mouths H H, adapted to deliver the smoke or other fluid in any horizontal direction in which they may be presented by the turning of the tubes G G. I I are steampipes extending from the 'boilers B B to any suitable part'of the :[iues F F, and delivering within the latter in such. direction as to drive forward the smoke or other iiuids within the said flues. J J are cocks to regulate the ow of steam through the. pipes I I. KK are casings surroundingl the mouths H H ofthe tubes G G,"and provided with an opening, lc k', at each end, through -which the' fluidy may be driven in either direction, accordingly as the mouths H H of the tubes are presented forward or backward.

In Fig. 4 is given a detached view of one of the tubes G H. g represents a projecting handle or lever by which it is turned round, and h a pivot on which it turns.

The operation is as follows: The damper E is opened until the fire in the furnaces is well started and steam generated in the boilers B.. The smoke-damper being then closed, the products of combustion are carried by the force of the steam through the ues F F, and the whole delivered in forcible currents within the casings K K in either direction, according to the way in which the revolvable tubes .G H are presented. Supposing the drawings to represent the bow of a boat, for propelling forward the tubes will be `vplaced in the positions shown in Fig. 3. The current of steam and gases will thus be made to actin a backward direction on the body of water within the casings K K, and thus by the inertia of the water on the one hand and the reaction within the tubes on the other the boat will be drawn forward in the direction shown by the red arrow. The blue arrows indicate the course of the water, which is drawn through the front apertures, k la, of the casings, and ejected through the rear apertures, 7c lc. It will thus be seen that the water is drawn from directly in front of the bow, where is usually a body of still water offering resistance to the passage of the vessel. By this invention, therefore, the propelling-power is made to act upon the water requiring to be displaced, which renders the displacement as easy as possible, and consequently reduces the power required to propel the boat.

For backing or for propelling from the stern, the tubes Gr H are turned to the positions shown in Fig. 2, by which the water is driven in the opposite direction, and thefmotion of the boat consequently reversed.

It will be manifest that by mingling the products of combustion with the steam a uid is provided which may be projected into the water without immediate condensation, and its effect is thus greatly increased.

By placing a pair of propellers of the above description at the bow and another pair at the stern a vessel may be maneuvered in any manner without the use of a rudder. By working two propellers on one side in opposite directions the vessel may be moved laterally without either going ahead or backing. By working two propellers diagonally opposite the vessel may be turned in either direction on vher own center. The invention is therefore of great importance for water vessels of all descriptions.

Another great advantage of the inventionv in its application to war'vessels consists in placing all the machinery below the lower` deck, so that the second deck may be left entirely clear for lighting and other purposes.

I am aware that it has been proposed to propel vessels by causing steam to act directly upon the water in which the vessel floats, t

duets of combustion from ,the furnace are mingled with the steam before the ejection ofthe latter beneath or upon the Water, substantially as set forth. A

2. The revolvable or reversible pipes G Gr are provided with horizontal mouths `H h,

which may be presented in either direction, so as to eject the s'team either forward or backward, as explained. Y

u8. The casings K K, with vapertures k k/at front and rear in the described combination with the pipes G H, for the purposes set forth.

JOHN BRIGGS.

Witnesses:

J AMES H. GRIDLEY, R. H. MAYHEW. 

